Electric railway.



No.'654,658. Patented .luiy 3|; I900.

a. A. LYNGKEB.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

. (Application filed Apr. 98, 1900.) (H0 Model.) 3 Shuts-Sheet I.

j m: "cams PETERS coy. FNOTO-UTHOu WASNINGTON, u. c

Patented July 3|, 1900. G. A. LYNGKER.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(Application filed Apr. 23,1900.)

3 Sheets-Sheet '3,

(No Model.)

nu: mums pznzns co. PHOTQ-LIT TATES, I P T met.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,658, dated July 31, 1900.

Application filed April 23, 1900. Serial No. 14,197. (No model.)

To etZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAV ADOLPH LYNOKER, a'citizen of Germany, residing at Munich, Bavaria, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railways; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to animprovement in electric railways.

The object of my invention is to provide a circuit-closing mechanism and general construction for sectional-conductor electric railways in which the circuit-closing mechanism will be operated by a current supplied from a battery on the car and will not receive any of the heavy current which is used for operating the car-motor. I

With this object in view my invention consists in the features, details of construction, and combination of parts which will first be described in connection with the acc0mpanying drawings and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figurel is a diagrammatic view of a railway system embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a cross-sectionof a railway constructed in accordance with my said invention. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the main circuit-closing mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detail view of a part of the same; Fig. 5, a detail view of a modification of the same; Fig. 6, a diagrammatic view of the circuit-closing magnets and their circuits, and Fig. 7 a similar view of all the circuits.

For the purpose of carrying out my invention two sets of intermediate conductors are provided, to which the circuit of the magnets is connected in multiple arc, while the motor circuit is in series with one set of the intermediate conductors. The electromagnets which serve to operate the main circuit-closing devices are connected in such a manner that two sets of electromagnets are always in series, so that no breakage of the'motor-circuit will occur when the shoes carried by the car slide over the contacts arranged along the railway at the surface of the ground. Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that two series of contacts 0 e are placed on a level with the street. The contact eis connected to the main cable 0 at the point n by means of the conductor l and the contact device on the armature -lever h. From the contact 6 a branch conductor q extends to the next set of electromagnets, in advance, the return-circuit being completed by the return-conductor r, as shown in the drawings. The contact 0 is directly connected to the electromagnets nearest it by means of the wire m. The wire '1'" forms a common return for all the electromagnets. The car-battery B, which serves to excite the electromagnets g, has its two terminals connected directly with the sliding shoes, which slide over the contacts 0 and 6, respectively. The flow of current is as follows: from one terminal of the car-battery B, Fig. 1, through one of the shoes to the con tact 0, thence over the wire on and through the coils of the nearest set of electromagnets 9, thence through the conductor 1* to the coils of the next set of electromagnets g in advance of the car, back through the wire 1 to the contact (2, and thence through the other shoe back to the battery B. It results from this construction that the relay in advance of the car has its armature attracted and closes the motor-circuit onto the advance contacts e ando' before the sliding shoes touch said contacts. Thus no interruption in the motor-circuit can occur by the torward motion of the car, because thesliding shoes touch the advance contacts before leaving the last set of contacts. The armature h of both relays are attracted, and each closes at the point at the connection of the wire Z with the branch wire 0, the said branch wire 0 being connected to the main cable 0. The main current then flows from the cable C over the branch 0 along the conductor 5 to the contact e, thence through the corresponding shoe to the motorstarting gear, from whence it passesthrough the motor M to the car-axle, returning through the car-Wheels and the track-rails, which are used as a return.

One of the advantages of my invention is that no current of high tension can flow through the coils of the electromagnets, for which reason the same can easily be insulated. Furthermore, an interruption of the motorand attached to a contact device 00, consisting of a metal bar fixed to the insulating-body The space d between the said insulating-body b and the box a is filled with plaster, cement-,or' any other suitable insulating material for the purpose of fixing the said insulating-body b in the box and at the same time preventing any moisture from entering the box, especially where the cable 0 is passed through. On the cover of the box a, is mounted a stone 3, in

.which is located the contact e, from which a metal tube fprojects downward. The box a is enlarged at one side above the level of the insulating-body b, and on this enlargement is mounted an electromagnet, the poles of which extend over the surface of the insulating-body. Just in front of the poles is arranged a pivoted armature h, Fig. 4, provided with a roller '5, located at one end'of the armature and insulated therefrom. This roller 41 moves on a metal bar 70, which is electrically connected to the contact e by a conductor passing through the tube f. The metal bar w is in line with the bar it and separated therefrom by the interval indicated at 02. At a short distance in front of the roller 6 an elastic contact-post p is arranged, being p'ivotally connected to the bar a: and normally held in an erect position by a spring, as shown in Fig. 2. The roller 13 is moved into contact with the said contact-post p when the armature h is attracted by its electromagnet. A second contact 0 is fixed to a stone 8 at one side of the contact 6. From said contact 0 an insulated conductor m passes downward through the wall of the box a to one terminal V of the coils g of the electromagnets, which yance electromagnets and thence to the conhave their other terminals connected to the conductor r, leading to the coils of the adboxes to contain the circuit-closing mechanism, with the electromagnets g therein and the exciter-conductors q and 1' connecting said electromagnets.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 7 both contacts are supposed to be at an equal distance from the railsybut various other arrangements can be made. The distance of one set of contacts from the next set is pref erably about 2.5 meters, and of course the sliding shoes must be a little longer than this. The coils of the electromagnets are arranged,

. preferably, in multiple arc, as shown in Fig. 1.

" Havingthus fully'described my invention,

"what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electric railway, the combination with a pluralityof surface contacts, and normally-open conductors for supplying current .to said contacts, of electromagnets for each conductor, means operated by the electromagnets when energized for closing the respective conductors where normally open, a battery carried by the car, and connections between the battery, and the surface contacts and between the latter and the electromagnets, whereby the electromagnet beneath'the car and 'the electromagnet in advance of the car are both simultaneouslyenergized.

2. In an electric-railway system, the com bination with a railway-track, a plurality of pairs of surface contacts along the track, a main feed-cable, a series of normally-open feed branches from said feed cable, each branch connecting to one surface contact of each pair, a plurality of exciter-conductors each leading from the said surface contact of one pair to the corresponding opposite surface contact of the next forward pair, and a plurality of electromagnets each having one terminal connected to its corresponding exciter-conductor, of a return exciter-conductor connected tot-he other terminals of all the electromagnets, a car movable along the track, a motor mounted on the carand arranged to propel the same, a pair of shoes carried by the car and each arranged to contact simultaneously with its corresponding surface contacts, an exciter-battery on the car having its terminals connected to the two shoes. connections between the motor and tact e through the conductor q. The circuitclosing mechanism is operated by the sliding shoes of the car, each of which forms one terminalof the car-battery B. shoes are in contact with o and 6, respectively, the battery is switched onto the electromagnets and closes the motor-circuit in the manner hereinbefore described. i

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modification ofv the roller contact device '5, which consists of a segment with an elongation, whereby a good contact is made with the bar 70. The sliding shoes are made somewhat longer than the distance apart of two sets of; contacts in order to avoid an interruption of the motor-circuit,

In Fig. 6 is shown, diagrammatically, the

If the sliding the car-wheel and between the motor and that shoe which engages the surface contacts operated by the electromagnets whenenergize'd for closing the feed branches where normally open, and a source of electricity having its terminals connected to the main feedcable and to track-rails.

3. In an electric railway, the combination with an electromagnet, a pivoted armaturelever therefor, a roller on the armature-lever, a bar on which said roller travels, and a contact post separated from the bar and arranged to contact with. the roller, of a feedconductor interrupted at the post and bar,

to which the feed branch is connected, means.

an exciter-circuit in which-the electromagnet is included, and means for energizing said eXciter-circuit, whereby the roller is moved along the bar until it contacts with the post, thereby closing the gap in the feedconductor. a

4. In an electric railwaythe combination with an electromagnet, a pivoted armaturelever therefor, a roller on the armature-lever, a bar on which said roller travels, and a flexible contact-post separated from the bar and arranged to contact with the roller, of a feedconductor interrupted at the post and bar, an eXciter-circuit in which the electromagnet is included, and means for energizing said exciter-circuit, whereby the roller is moved along the bar until it contacts with the post,

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GUSTAV ADOLPH LYNOKER. Witnesses:

FLORENCE T. MCDONALD, HUGA RUEF SAPEZIERA." 

